Thank God they only come once a year... Not the best birthday on record. There were bright spots, like when my mom and grandma came down for lunch, and when my department brought out the ice cream cake. But the day was blighted by news on the escrow front.

Apparantly, Homeowners' Associations (HOAs) are required by law to maintain a reserve fund equal to six months of dues from all of the units in the building. For the condo I was trying to buy, that number came out to approximately $16,000. Unfortunately, the HOA for this particular condo only had $1,000 in their reserves. The loan agencies won't touch it. Without a loan, I cannot buy this condo. So after 3 months, escrow will be cancelled, and I'm back to square 1.

I'll be perfectly honest: I am quite bitter, angry and resentful at this news, but mostly sad. The last time I went through this failure of escrow, everyone said "these things happen for a reason," and later cited this condo as a clear reason why the last escrow failed. And yet, here I am, another failed escrow, and the same tired old phrase. Forgive me, but things don't always happen for a reason, and if anyone thinks this is an appropriate consolation technique, let me be the first to divest you of that notion by asking "Ok, so what's the reason?" I've wasted so much time on this condo and the one in Pasadena that I may have missed my window of opportunity.